Chain-stitch inseam shoe-sewing machine.



L. E. TOPHAM.

CHAIN STITCH INSEAM SHOE SEWING MACHINE. APPLICAHON FILED JAN-24.1916.

1,241,784. Patented 001;. 2,1917.

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CHAIN STITCH INSEAM SHOE SEWING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED IAN- 24. 1916.

Patented Oct. 2,1917.

6 $HEETSSHEET 2 lI/iliiess:

L. E. TOPHAM.

CHAIN STSTCH INSEAM SHOE SEWING MACHINE.

APPLICATKON man JAN 24. IBIS.

1,241,784. Patented Oct. 2, 1917.

L. E. TOPHAM.

CHAIN STITCH INSEAM SHOE SEWING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED IAN. 24. me.

1,241,784. Patented Oct. 2,1917.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

mass: 81276 7:

wm aha 62% 1.. E. TUPHAM.

CHAIN STITCH lNSEAM SHOE SEWING MACHINE.

APPLICATON FILED JAN. 24, 19l6.

1,241,784. Patented 001;. 2,1917.

6 SHEETSSHEET 5 L. E. TOPHAM.

CHAIN STITCH INSEAM SHOE SEWING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.24. 1916.

1,241,784. Patented Oct 2,1917.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 5- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LAURENCE E. TOPHAM, OF SWAMPSCOTT, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY COMPANY, OF PATEBSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

CHAIN-STITCH INSEAM SHOE-SEWING MACHINE.

'0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, LAURENCE E. Tor- HAM, a citizen of the United States, residin at Swampscott, in the county of Essex an State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Chain- Stitch Inseam Shoe-Sewing Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates to chain stitch inseam shoe sewing machines which employ a curved hooked needle and which are used to sew together the upper and insole of turned shoes or the welt, upper and insole of a welted shoe.

After the inseam of a shoe has been sewn on a machine of the class above referred to, the last loop of thread drawn through the work by the needle needle hook or barb and the needle must be brought to rest out of engagement with the work before the shoe can be removed from the machine. The object of the present invention is to provide novel and eflicient means for performing these operations automatically as the machine is stop ed so that no additionalmanipulation of the machine by the operator is required and the shoe can be removed as soon as the sewing operation is completed.

ith this object in view, the present invention contemplates the provision in a machine of the class referred to of means which will act automatically as the machine is stopped to advance the needle from its retracted position, in which position the last 100 of needle thread is firmly seated in the bar of the needle, toward the work a sulficient distance to free the barb from the thread and bring the needle to rest in advanced position out of engagement with the work and at a suflicient distance from the work so as not to interfere with the removal of the shoe. The thread ordinarily used in inseam shoe sewing machines is saturated with wax and it has been found in actual practice that the loop of such a saturated thread is sufficiently rigid to free itself from the barb as the needle advances toward the work and that an advancing movement can be given to the needle suflicient to'free the thread from the barb without moving the Specification of Letters Patent.

must be freed from the Patented Oct. 2, 1917.

Application filed January 24, 1916. Serial No. 73,881.

needle so far as to interfere with the removal of a sewed shoe from the machine. In inseam shoe sewing machines provided with a curved, hook needle or barb needle, the

hook or barb is on the side of the needle away from which the work is fed and by reason of this arrangement of the needle hook or barb, when the needle loop is freed from the barb of the needle during the advancing movement of the needle, the loop either falls completely out of engagement with the needle or the end of the loop rests against the smooth side of the needle which is opposite to the side in which the barb is formed. There is no liability, therefore that the needle loop will catch in the barb of the needle when the shoe is removed from the machine.

The present invention contemplates producing the advancing movement of the needle from its retracted position in any'desired manner. To secure this advancing movement and to cause the needle to be stopped with certainty in the desired advanced position out of engagement with the work, the preferred form of the invention contemplates reversing the direction of retation of the cam shaft of the machine as the machine is stopped, this reversal taking place substantially at the point in the cycle of o erations of the machine in which the needle is in retracted position.

Inseam shoe sewing machines of the class which comprise a curved hook needle are provided with guides for the work consistturned work, of a back age and a back rest or hunter, and, when t e machine is used fonwelted work, consistin of a back rest or bunter and a welt i e. Duringeach cycle of operations of t e machine the back rest or hunter is locked and unlocked and the back ga e or welt guide is locked and unlocked an is also moved toward and from the shoe. The timing of thelocking and actuating devices for the work guides of these machines is such that both guides are in contact with the work and locked during the retracting stroke of the needle. When, therefore, as in the preferred embodiment of the present invention, a final advancing movement is given to the needle as the machine is stopped by the reversal in the direction' of rotation of the driving shaft, the needle comes to rest at a point in the cycle of operations in the machine in which both work guides are in contact with the work and locked against backward movement. To facilitate the removal of the shoe from the machine it is desirable that both work guides be unlocked and that the welt guide or back gage be retracted and, accordingly, features of the present invention contemp ate the provision of means for unlocking these guides and retracting the back ga or welt guide as hereinafter described an claimed.

The several features of the resent invention will be clearly understo from an inspection of the accompanying drawings in which the referred embodiment of the invention is illustrated as applied to a welt shoe sewing machine of well known construction.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of the complete machine; Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation partly in section of the head of the machine illustrating particularly the stitch forming and work guiding devices; Fig. 3 is a view in vertical section with some of the parts shown in elevation, of the head of the machine illustrating the mechanism by means of which an advancing movement from its retracted position is imparted to the needle as the machine is stopped and the needle is brought to rest in advanced osition out of engagement with the work; ig. 4 is a plan view partly in section of the mechanism illustrated 1n Fi 3; Fig. 5 is a detail crossa B5 sectional view ta en on the line 55 of Fig. 4 looking in the direction of the arrows; Fig. 6 is a detail crosssectional view of the head of the machine illustrating the brake and positive stop which are brought into operation during the reverse rotation of the cam shaft; Fig. 7 is a detail view in rear elevation of certain of the parts illustrated in Fig. 6; and Figs. 8 and 9 are somewhat dia rammatic detail views illustrating the actlon of the needle in freeing the thread from the needle barb when the machine is step d Fig. 8 illustratin the manner in wh1c the needle loop is he d in the barb of the needle when the needle is at the limit of its retracting stroke and Fig. 9 illustrating the manner in which the needle loop has been freed from the barb of'the needle after the needle has been advanced and brought to rest in advanced position out of engagg- 65 ment with the work. In Fig. 8 for the sa e of clearness the rear or work side of the needle loop is shown displaced somewhat from the position which it actually assumes when the needle is retracted.

The welt shoe sewing machine illustrated in the drawings, except as hereinafter described, is the same in the construction, arrangement and mode of operation of the parts as the machine disclosed in the patent to Eppler No. 1,108,560 dated August 25,

1914. Referring to Fig. 2 of the drawings, the curved hook needle of the machine is indicated at 1, the looper at 2, the thread arm at 3, the welt guide at 4, the welt uide slide at 5, the back rest or bunter at the back rest slide at 7, the looking wedge for the welt guide and back rest slides at 8, the thread tension devices at 9, the cam shaft at 10 and the tension releasing link which is actuated by reversal in the direction of rotation of the cam shaft at 11. Durin the operation of the machine, the cam sha t 10 is driven continuously in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fi 1 by means of a belt 12 passing over a pn ley 13 on the cam shaft and over a pulley 14 secured to a shaft 15 mounted in the base of the machine. The shaft 15 is connected by beveled gears 16 and 17 to a sleeve mounted on the ower shaft 18 of the machine and provide with one member 19 of a friction clutch. The other member 20 of the friction clutch is splined on the shaft 18 so as to rotate therewith and is acted upon by a spring 21, the tendency of which is to separate the clutch members. The clutch member 20 is arranged to be acted upon by a wedge 22 which is connected to a foot treadle 23 the arrangement being such that by means of the foot treadle 23 and wedge 22 the speed of the machine can be regulated and the machine can be disconnected from its driving power and allowed to stop by a total release of the treadle 23.

The machine illustrated in the drawings is provided with means whereby when the treadle' 23 is released to stop the machine the needle is brought to its retracted position as indicated in Fig. 8 and is then advanced toward the work as indicated in Fig. 9 and brought to rest in this advanced position out of engagement" with the work. The result of this movement of the needle frees the last loop of needle thread from the barb of the needle, as indicated in Fig. 9 and leaves the needle and thread in such condition that the shoe can be immediately removed from the machine without any further manipulation of the machine by the operator. As is clearly shown in Figs. 8 and 9 the barb of the needle is on the side of the needle away from which the work is fed, or in other words, the barb of the needle faces the portion of the seam which has been completed. When the needle is in its retracted position, as indicated in Fig. 8, the last loop of needle thread is held tightly in the barb of the needle, but when the needle advances and stops in the position indicated in Fig. 9 the needle loop is forced out of the barb and the end of the loop is either completely free of the needle or rests lightly against the smooth side of the needle opposite the barb, as indicated in Fig. 9.

The mechanism illustrated in the "drawvices for throwing the friction clutch out of operation and for stopping the cam shaft after it has been rotated to a predetermined position. This mechanism also includes devices thrown into operation when the stoping treadle is released for throwing t e riction clutch into operation at such a time .in the cycle of operations of the machine that the cam shaft of the machine will be reversed substantially at the time when the needle has completed its retracting stroke.

The friction clutch above referred to comprises a continuously reversely rotating clutch member 24 mounted loosely on the cam shaft 10 and a cooperating member 25 mounted to rotate with the cam shaft. The clutch member 24 is rigidly connected with a Worm gear 26 which is constantly driven by means of a worm 27, the shaft of which is provided with a'pulley 28 driven through a belt 29 from a pulley 30 on the power shaft 18 of the machine. The clutch member 25 is provided with a hub 31 which is connected to rotate with the belt pulley 13 by means of a block 32 projecting from the pulley between lugs 33 on the hub 31. This connection causes the clutch member 25 to rotate with the cam shaft but permits a movement of the clutch member longitudinally of the cam shaft toward and from the clutch member 24. During the normal operation of the machine in sewing a seam the clutch member 25 is held out of engagement with the clutch member 24 by means of a spring 34. This spring is interposed between the head of a pin 35 and the bottom of a recess in the block 32. The pin 35 extends through the block 32 and is provided on its inner end with a plate 36 overlapping the projections 33 from the hub 31 of the clutch member. To cause the clutch member 25 to be moved into and out of engagement with the clutch member 24 the hub 31 of the clutch member 25 is provided with a cam groove 37 which is engaged by a roll on one end of a bell crank lever38 pivotally mounted on the frame of the machine. The other end of the bell crank lever is provided with a hole 39 adapted to receive a locking bolt 40 which while the machine is sewing a seam is held out of engagement with the bell crank lever so that the bell crank lever is oscillated idly by the cam groove and the until the clutch member 25 remains out of e agement with the clutch member 24. en,

however, the treadle 23 is allowed to rise, the bolt 40 is permitted to engage the hole in the bell crank lever 38. The release of the treadle 23releases the driving clutch disks 19 and 20 so that the machine is disconnected from its driving power and at the time the bolt 40 engages the bell crank lever 38 the cam shaft 10 of the machine is turning forward under momentum. The continued forward rotation of the cam shaft 10 causes the cam groove 37 to force the clutch member 25 intoengagement with the clutch member 24 but inasmuch as these 2 members are rotatm in opposite directions the cam shaft is rst slowed down and stopped and then reversely rotated until the cam groove 37 acting on the roll in the arm of bell crank 38 moves the clutch member 25 out of engagement with the clutch member 24. The cam groove 37 in the hub of clutch member 25 is so shaped, and located in such an angular position on the cam shaft that the reversal in the direction of rotation of the cam shaft takes lace substantially at the time when the nee le is at the limit of its retracting stroke, as indicated in Fig. 8 and the clutch member 25 is disconnected from the clutch member 24 just before the lllreedle reaches the position indicated in The locking pin 40 is mounted in the end of a slide 41 which is held in normal position by a spring 42. The spring surrounds a bolt 43 extending from the rear end of the slide and is interposed between a shoulder on the slide and the inner end of an adjustable screw threaded sleeve 44. The bolt 43 carries a nut 45 which engages the outer end of the sleeve and holds the spring under tension. The locking bolt 40 is acted upon by a spring 46 which tends to raise it into engagement with the bell crank lever 38 and the bolt is provided with a latch 47 -arranged to engage a shoulder 48 on the slide 41 and hold the bolt in its lower position treadle 23 has been raised sufliciently to allow the locking bolt to engage the bell crank lever. The latch 47 is loosely pivoted on a rock shaft 49 journaled in a block secured to the lower end of the locking bolt 40 and is connected with the rock shaft by-a pin 50 projecting through a slot in the hub of the latch. The rock shaft 49 is provided with an arm 50 which is connected by a rod 51 to the starting and stopping treadle 23. With this construction. when the treadle 23 is depressed the rock shaft 49 turns until the latch 47 brings up against the slide 41 and then during the continued downward movement of the treadle the locking bolt is drawn down against the tension of its spring. This carries the latch 47 under the shoulder 48.

When the treudle fas' is released the latch 47 prevents the upward movement of the lockin bolt and the rock shaft 49 is rocked untiE the pin 50 strikes the end of the slot in the hub of the latch and swings the latch outward, thus disengaging it from the shoulder 48. When this takes place the spring 46 forces the locking bolt upward against the under side of the bell crank lever 38 and when the hole in the lever registers with the locking bolt the bolt snaps up into the hole 39, thus connecting the bell crank lever with the slide 41. When the bell crank lever 38 and the slide 41 are connected by the locking bolt the movement of the bell crank lever is resisted by the spring 42 and the clutch members 25 and 24 are pressed together with a force depending upon the tensio'nof the spring 42.

During the reverse rotation of the cam shaft 10 the link 11 is actuated as in the patent hereinbefore referred to to release the tension on the thread. In the machine illustrated in the drawings the link 11 is also utilized to apply a brake to the cam shaft and also throw into operation a positive stop. This brake and positive stop are best illustrated in Fi 6. As shown, the brake consists of a bra e band .52 arranged to act on a disk secured to the cam shaft. One end of this brake band is secured to the frame of the machine and the other end is secured to an eccentric 53 formed on the stud 54 which forms the pivotal connection b tween the link 11 and the bell crank 55 which forms a portion of the tension releasing mechanism. An endwise reciprocation of the link 11 which takes place upon a reversal in the direction of rotation of the cam shaft thus applies the brake band 52. To release the brake band by the downward movement of the starting treadle so thatthe brake may be removed before the machine is started the stud 54 is provided with a slotted arm 56 which is engaged by'the pin 57 which forms the pivotal connection between the arm 50" and the rod 51. The positive stop consists of a finger 58 projecting from the hub of the bell crank 55 and adapted to be moved into the path of a shoulder 59 on a stop disk secured to the cam shaft when the bell crank is rocked by the reciprocation of the link 11. In the machine illustrated in the drawin the welt guide 4 and the back rest 6 are 1n engagement with the shoe when the needle is in the position indicated in Fig. 9 and also at this time the locking wedge 8 is in its advanced position in which both slides 5 and? are locked. To permit the shoe to be removed after the machine has been stop ed with the needle in the position indicate in Fig. 9 the machine illustrated in the drawings is provided with means operated from the link 11 for unlocking both slides 5 and 7 and for retracting slide 5. This means, as illustrated in Fig. 2, comprises a bell crank lever 60, one arm of which is arranged to be depressed by a plunger 61 connected to the horizontal arm of the bell crank 55, the other arm of which is connected to the welt guide slide 5 and to the lockin wedge 8. The connection between the be crank 60 and the locking wedge 8 consists of a link 62 ivoted at one end to the vertical arm of t e bell crank and at its other end passing through a lug projecting from the locking wed e and provided with a nut 63 to engage t e in and retract the wedge whenever the befi crank 60 is actuated by a depression of the plunger 61. To connect the bell crank 60 wlth the welt guide slide 5 the upper end of the vertical arm of the bell crank is provided with a hole through which a rod projecting from the rear end of the welt guide slide asses. This rod at its outer end is provi ed with a nut 64 with which the upper end of the bell crank 60 engages to retract the welt guide slide. The position of the nuts 63 and 64 is such that the locking wed e 8 is actuated to unlock the welt guide sli e before the nut 64 is engaged by the bell crank to retract the slide.

The nature and scope of the present invention having been indicated and the preferred form of the invention having been described, what is claimed is 1. A chain stitch inseam shoe sewing machine, having in combination, stitch forming devlces including a curved hooked needle and a looper, and means operating automatically on stopping the machine to ad- 00 vance the needle from its retracted position to free the hook from the last needle loop and bring the needle to rest in advanced position out of engagement with the work.

2. chain stitch inseam shoe sewing 105 machine, having in combination, stitch forming devices including a curved hooked needle and a looper, and means operating automatically on stopping the machine to reverse the direction of rotation of the cam 11o shaft of the machine to advance the needle from its retracted position so as to free the hook from the last needle loop and bring the needle to rest in advanced position out of engagement with the work.

3. chain stitch inseam shoe sewing machme,hav1ngin combination, stitch formmg devices including a curved hooked needle and a looper, a work guide, means operating automatically on stopping the machine to 120 advance the needle from its retracted position to free the barb from the last needle loop and bring the needle to rest in advanced position out of engagement with the work, and means thrown into operation on 125 stopplng the machine for retracting the work guide.

4. chain stitch inseam shoe sewing machine, having in combination, stitch formmg devices including a curved hooked needle 180 and a looper, means operating automatically on stopping the machine to reverse the direction of rotation of the cam shaft of the machine to advance the needle from its retraoted position so as to free the hook from the last needle loop and bring the needle to rest in advanced position out of engagement with the work, a work guide, means for locking and unlocking the work guide during each cycle of operations of the machine, and means thrown into operation on stopping the machine and operating during the reverse rotation of the cam shaft to unlock and retract the work guide.

5. A chain stitch inseam shoe sewing machine, having in combination, stitch forming devices including a curved hooked needle and a looper, means operating automatically on stopping the machine to reverse the direction of rotation of the cam shaft of the machine to advance the needle from its retracted position so as to free the hook from the last needle loop and bring the needle to rest in advanced position out of engagement with the work, a work guide, a work rest, means for locking and unlocking the Work guide and work rest during each cycle of operations of the machine, and means thrown into operation on stopping the machine and operating during the reverse rotation of the cam shaft to unlock the work rest and work guide and retract the work guide.

LAURENCE E. TOPHAM. 

